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Anti-abortion activists and protesters carried posters and shouted slogans in support for the unborn on Friday, when they descended on the nation's capital from various parts of the country for the annual March for Life rally. (Jan. 19)

President Donald Trump’s job performance is rated the best and the worst among Montanans in an inaugural poll by the University of Montana that also found that 1 percent of those residents queried think the state Legislature is doing an excellent job.

Sixty-two percent of those same 603 respondents opposed a proposal by the U.S. Department of the Interior to decrease the size of national monuments as proposed by Secretary Ryan Zinke, a former Montana legislator.

The findings are part of the UM Big Sky Poll, which says in a news release Wednesday it collects and reports information about what Montanans think about local, state and federal issues.

In terms of excellence, the Republican president topped the list of those polled with 20 percent.

But Trump also topped the list when it comes to poor performance with nearly twice as many Montanans polled (41 percent) doling out that rating.

The New York billionaire and reality TV show star won Montana with 55.6 percent of the vote in 2016 over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s 35.4 percent, carrying 50 of the state’s 56 counties.

The results left one Montana political science professor wanting to know more about how the poll was conducted and how the findings were reached.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont.(Photo: Courtesy photo)

“There are a number of standard things that pollsters general do that allow the rest of us to evaluate the validity and reliability of the poll,” said David Parker, associate political science professor at Montana State University, who frequently comments on Montana politics.

He said the poll does not provide some demographics on those queried, gender, ages or where they live.

“I don’t know how to evaluate as to if they got a good sample,” he said.

If the excellent and good ratings are combined, the numbers become a little more palatable.

Of those, 45 percent think the governor is doing a good or fair job, 19 percent of those polled think that of the state Legislature, 30 percent gave that rating to Gianforte, 34 percent said that about Daines and 46 percent gave Tester that grade.

And 43 percent of respondents think Trump is doing a good or fair job.

Senate President Scott Sales, R-Bozeman(Photo: Courtesy)

Sales said the numbers regarding the president show how polarized the country is these days.

“The country is very divided.,” he said. “In my 57 years I’ve never seen the country as divided as it now.”

Of those polled, 62 percent oppose and 29 percent approved of Zinke’s proposals to decrease the size of national monuments. There were 9 percent who had no opinion.